Cabinet trim member



Nov. 12, 1957 T. A. MCCARRAN 2,812,559

CABINET TRIM MEMBER Filed April 8. 1954 Y 7. 2 a! INVENTOR.

9 T OMA AM ARWW- ATTORNEY CABINET TRIM MEMBER Thomas A. McCarran, Neshaminy, Pa., assignor, by direct andmesne assignments, of one-half to Kaiser Metal Products, Inc., Oakland, Calif., a corporation of California, and one-half to Sears, Roebuck and Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of New York Application April 8, 1954, Serial No. 421,841 7 Claims. 01. 20 74 This invention relates to an edge binding or trim strip for the edge portions "of'cabinet members and the like. More particularly, this invention is concerned with providing a novel snap-onand self-locking trim strip, which can be readilyapplied to the exposed edge of undersink cabinets and top-members-or the like.

nited States Patent In the manufacture of various cabinet and top' members,

such as base or ,unders'ink cabinets and tops, table and counter tops, etc., it is highly desirable to provide the top or other exposed edges of, the cabinet witha suitable trim member; This trimjmember not onlyserves as an ornamental portion ofthe cabinet and/ or top, but it also serves as an important structural element in that it is used to absorb shocks and blows that are, applied tothe cabinet and/or-tops during the normal usage of the same be easily applied to the edge surfaces of a cabinet-or top member, table or counter top. In addition, because of their particular construction, these trim devices were usually not self-adjusting and did notlend themselves-to easy installation, where tolerances existed between the dimensions and configuration of the cabinet or cabinet,

top edge and the trimme'mberr Furthermore, certain-0f these trim members were not sufiieiently rigid soas to offer the maximum amount of resistance to shock, impact, and deformation. When deformation occurred, -itynot only detracted from the overallappearance of the trim member, but, in addition, frequently weakened the member to the extent thatit was'only'insecurely andloosely attached to the base member such as an undersink cabinet top. Other of the trim strips devised inthe pastcould not be applied except by the use of special clamping membersor tools,

Accordingly, it is an object of, this invention to provide a novel trim strip which can be readilyapplied to theexposed edge of a base sink cabinettop or the like, without the use of special tools or accessory members.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel trim strip device which, when applied to a cabinet top edge,is both self-locking and selfeadjusting.

;It is a furth'er object of this inve'ntionto provide a novel trim strip, which will afford the maximum amount of resistance to shock and impact, although made of relatively thin gauge metal. u

Itis another object of this invention to provide a novel trim strip which is deformable during the application thereof to a cabinet top member, and which, after it has been applied, recovers sufficiently to become securely anchored to the cabinet member. v u u It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel trimstrip' device which is sufficiently resilient to provide for easy installation and'one which is self-adjusting with respecttoits environment, V 1 a 2,812,559 Patented" Nov. i2, 1957 It is another object of this invention to provide a novel trim strip of laminated construction for use as an edge binding member which is both self-locking and self-adjusting while still offering the maximum amount of re- 'sistance to deformation. 7

These and other objects are accomplished by providing a novel trim strip for use in covering the exposed edge portion of a base sink cabinet top, table or counter top and 'thelike, wherein the edge portion of the cabinet top is comprised of a ledge member defined by spaced top and bottom walls preferably offset with respect to one another, and joined together by an upwardly and inwardly inclined web. The top wall of the ledge member is also provided with a projecting shoulder portion. The trim device is applied to the cabinetledge and includes a base member provided with an inwardly directed bottom flange and an inwardly and upwardly projecting curved leg element. A facing element, which also forms part of the novel trim strip of the instant invention, is secured to the base member. This facing element comprises a bottom flange in overlapping engagement with the bottom flange of, the base member, a curved intermediate portion in surface contact with the leg element of the base member, and a resilient downwardly curved top flange, which is deflected about and is in overlapping engagement with the projecting shoulder portion on the top wall of the cabinet ledge f strip is adapted to contact the ledge element on the-cabinet at the point of intersection between the web and the bottom wall thereof. Thus, there is always althree point contact between the composite trim strip and thevledge member on the cabinet. nated trim strip is stretched much in the manner of a bow against the ledge element, so as to rigidly tension the strip In short, the composite or lamiagainst the ledge element by having pressure exerted thereon at three spaced points.

Other objects and advantages of the instant invention .will become more apparent by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein:

' Figure 1 is a broken plan view of two base cabinet members at their point of intersection, with the trim strip of the instant invention being applied to the exposed edge of each of "the several cabinets and with another cover member being secured over the several trim. strip members soasto form a perfect joint covering;

Figure 2 is a broken sectional view of the ledge of a cabinet member and a trim strip aflixed thereto, when taken along lines 2 -2 of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the novel trimstrip' of the instant invention; and

Figure 4 is a sectional view, with parts removed for the sake of clarity, of a cabinet ledge member, with a trim strip and an outer covering member applied thereto when taken along the lines 44 of Figure 1; it also indi- "cates the manner in which the trim strip may be applied to a cabinet member.

With further reference to the drawings, the novel trim strip 1 of the instant invention is generally comprised of a roughly L-shaped base member 1'. Base member 1 in 1 turn is comprised of an inwardly projecting bottom flange 'Zand an upwardly and inwardly projecting curved leg rnember 3. It will also be noted by particular reference to Figs. 2 and 3, that the outer face of this leg member, 3 is advantageously convex, while the inner face of the leg member is advantageously concave. This base member is'encompassed or covered by an outer facing element or strip 6', the major portion of which has a configuration approximating that of the base member 1".' This outer facing member 6 is provided with a bottom flanged portion 7, the bottom terminal edge 8 of which is adapted to be folded about the bottom terminal edge 9 of the flange 2 on the base member 1. The flange 7 on the facing strip 6 and the flange 2 on the base element 1' are also adapted to extend for substantially the distance A as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4.

The facing strip or element 6 in addition to being pro vided with a flanged portion 7 also includes a curved intermediate portion 10 forming the main body portion of the facing member 6. This intermediate body portion 10 of the, facing element in turn is advantageously concave on the inside and convex on the outside. The upper portion of the facing element 6 terminates in a downwardly curved flange 11 of double thickness. This flange extends for substantially the distance C as indicated in Fig. 3, while the main body portion 10 of facing element 6 extendsfor. the distance B as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4. Flange 11 is also advantageously provided with a terminal wing element 12. This wing element, 12 is adapted to overlap the top terminal edge of the leg element 3 of the base member 1. It will't'hus be readily seen that by means of wing member 12 and overlapping terminal portion 8 on the facing strip 6, that the base element 1' can be securely anchored to the outer facing strip 6, so that the ultimate trim strip device 1 will be a composite article of laminated construction. In addition, it will also be noted that the curvature of the leg element 3 on the base member 1", as well as the curvature of the main body portion 10 of the face element 6 are substantially identical. This provides for a snug engagement and tight surface to surface contact between both the base member 1' and the facing strip 6 at all times.

In addition, by backing up the facing strip 6 by a base member 1', a rigid substantially non-deformable trim strip 1 is ultimately provided, when the strip is applied to a cabinet. member in the manner hereinafter described.

This trim strip is adapted to be secured to an exposed edge of a counter, table, or analogous element, such as the undercabinet 13 of a sink assembly, and this exposed edge portion of the cabinet may be located at the top, bottom or side edge of a cabinet. This exposed edge of the cabinet is also advantageously provided with a ledge member 14, which may be made as an integral part of the cabinet, or as a separable element aflixed to the cabinet by any suitable means.

This ledge member includes spaced top and bottom walls 15 and 16, respectively, which are suitably spaced from one another and with the top wall 15 being advantageously offset slightly inwardly of the bottom wall 16. The walls are joined together by a suitable web member 17. It will benoted by referring to Fig. 2, that the ledge member may be so formed that the walls 15and 16 and web member 17 may be formed integrally one with another. In addition, it will also be noted that the upper wall 15 is also advantageously flat and planar, while bottom wall 16 is preferablyslightly inclined. Wall 15, adjacent its point of intersection with" the web 17, is also advantageously provided with a shoulder element 18, which projects upwardly. This shoulder element 18 may be made in the form of one or more upwardly projecting beaded elements or struck-out portions on the planar surface 15. The shoulder element 18, it will be noticed, is also provided with an inwardly and upwardly inclined surface 19, the function of which will be'described more fully hereinafter.

The trim strip 1 is applied to the ledge element 14 of the cabinet member 13 by first contacting the ledge element 14 of the cabinet member at the point where the web 17 of the ledge intersects with the bottom wall 16 thereof by means of the base element 1 on the trim strip at the point where the leg element 3 and the bottom flange 2 of the base member intersect. The flange 2 of the base member 1' is also brought into parallel alignmentwith inclined Wall 16 of the ledge. 14as indicated in dotted 4 lines in Fig. 4. Thereafter, once the trim strip land cabinet ledge 14 have been brought into engagement with one another, the trim strip is then rotated in a clockwise direction, until the downturned top flange 11 of the composite trim strip 1 is brought into engagement with the inclined surface 19 of the'projecting shoulder 18 on the cabinet ledge 14. By the continued application of pressure on the trim strip 1, the curved flange 11 of the trim strip 1 will be deflected outwardly and upwardly, thereby allowing the trim strip as a whole to be moved closer and closer to the cabinet ledge 14 until the flange 11 of the trim strip passes the peak 20 of the shoulder element 18. When it passes the peak 20, flange 11 then snaps over and about the shoulder portion 18, bringing at the same time the terminal wing member 12 on the facing strip 6 into direct contact with the ledge element 14 of the cabinet member at substantially the point of intersection between the upper wall 15 and the web 17 of the ledge element 14. It will thus be seen that when the trim strip 1 is affixed to the top edge of a cabinet member, that there will be substantially a three point, triangular locking condition and a three point contact between the trim strip 1 and the ledge of the cabinet member. These points of contact are identified as points of contact X, Y and Z. X is the pointof contact between the base member 1 of the trim strip and the point of intersection between the wall 16 and web 17 of the cabinet member ledge. Point Y is identified as the point where the wing member 12 of the outer facing strip 6 not only overlaps the top of the leg 3 of the base member 1', but also is in contact with the ledge of the cabinet member at the point of intersection between the web 17 and the top wall 15 thereof. Point Z is defined as the point of contact between the downturned curved top flange 11 on the facing strip 6 and the peak 20 of the raised shoulder portion 18 on the cabinet ledge member. This three point triangular locking condition also allows the trim strip to return to substantially its normal cross-sectional area after being deformed during installation, thus bringing about a clamping or locking of the trim strip 1 by pressure at three pointslocated at the required distances and angles apart. It will be noted that this application of the trim strip is brought about solely by the use of pressure, without the use of special tools or accessories. Once it is locked into position, it remains locked and acts. as a self-supporting trim strip. The outer facing strip 6 may be advantageously made of stainless steel of the proper proportion and relatively thin gauge. The base member 11 of the trim strip is also advantageously made from thin gauge metal. The upper flange 11 of this trim strip 1 will deflect to the elastic limit of the material and when emplaced, will recover sufliciently to provide a clamping contact to the base and surface members, at the same time locking the trim to the cabinet.

The arrangement described above also advantageously serves to provide a means or medium for form locking the trim strip 1 to a ledge element or base member of higher cross-sectional area than the trim strip, which feature in turn provides resistance to deformation, impact and shock. By the form locking feature of the outer member or facing element 6, the base member 1 also becomes an integral part of the trim strip 1. It will thus be noted that any exertion of pressure by shock or impact against the curved main body portion 10 of the facing strip 6 will be resisted not only by the facing strip 6 itself due to its convex, concave configuration, but also by the base member 1 which acts to stiffen facing strip 6. Thus, the composite trim strip 1, even though made out of metals which are of relatively thin gauge, will afford resistance to shock and impact, commonly found only in trim strips made from muchheavier gauge materials, which in turn cannot deflect the desired amountto make practical a self-applied and self-contained locking device. The arrangement and construction of the novel trim strip 1 of the instant invention also permits a wider range of variations and deviations with respect to a foreign object, such as a sink base cabinet to which it is fitted, than is commonly achievable in attaching a trim element of this type. Thus, metal base cabinets, tables, counters, etc. may be trimmed with this device within a wider range of misalignment of the metal base surfaces than would be allowable with other trims on such surfaces. Further, the subject device further acts as an integral structural additive when it is applied to a cabinet top member or the like.

In addition, although the base member 1' of the trim strip 1 is preferably made of metal, it may also be made of plastics in the proper proportionate sizes to the facing strip 6. The facing strip 6 may be made of thin gauge metals or other suitable materials having the desired range of elasticity and form recovery to afford maximum resiliency and recovery of the original shape or form. The size and shape of both facing strip 6 and base element 1' may be varied to suit the desired application, depending on the size and shape of the cabinet members or other elements to which the trim strip 1 is attached.

By referring to Figs. 1 and 4, it will also be noted that the composite trim strip 1 of the instant invention can be extended to join and trim individual cabinet members 13 located at varying angles with respect to one another. In this case, an appropriate joint cover strip 22, which can be made of any suitable material, would then be employed. As indicated in Fig. 4, this cover strip 22 would be provided with a main body portion 23 of substantially the same configuration as the main body portion of the outer facing element 6. Strip 22 would also be provided with a suitable top flange 24 for engaging the top flange 11 of the facing strip 6, and a bottom flange 25 for engaging and encompassing the bottom flange 7 of the facing strip 6. By the utilization of such a cover member 22, together with the several trim strips 1 on adjoining cabinets 13 located at an angle to one another, the corner member 22 will provide, in combination with the trim strips 1, a continuity of trim surfaces from two converging planes. This arrangement in turn permits the running of the trim strips 1 across the corner of two converging planes so as to converge metal base cabinet members and like members together in a suitable manner, while providing a smooth joint therebetween.

It will be obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the device of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as defined by the appended claims, wherein what is claimed 1. In an edge binding arrangement for a cabinet member and the like, the combination of a cabinet member including a ledge element defined by an outwardly projecting bottom portion, a web portion projecting inwardly and upwardly from said bottom portion with said web portion terminating at the top thereof in an inwardly directed flat planar portion, said flat planar portion also being provided with an upwardly projecting shoulder element and a laminated edge binding strip surrounding said ledge element, said binding strip in turn comprising a base member provided with an inwardly directed bottom flange and an upwardly projecting and outwardly curved leg element, and a facing element secured to said base member, said facing element comprising a bottom portion in overlapping engagement with the bottom flange of the base member, an intermediate portion in surface to surface contact with the leg element on said base member, and a resilient downwardly curved top flange deflectable about and in surface contact with the uppermost extremity of the projecting shoulder element on the flat planar portion of said ledge element, said laminated edge binding strip contacting said ledge element at the point of intersection between the web and the bottom portions thereof and including a portion contacting said web portion at the edge formed by the intersection of said web portion and said inwardly directed flat planar portion.

2. In an edge binding arrangement for a cabinet member and the like, the combination of a cabinet member provided with a ledge element defined by an outwardly and downwardly projecting bottom portion, a web portion projecting inwardly and upwardly from the outermost extremity of said bottom portion, with said web portion terminating at the top thereof in an inwardly directed flat planar portion provided with an upwardly projecting shoulder and a laminated edge binding strip surrounding said ledge element, said binding strip comprising an L-shaped base member provided with an inwardly directed bottom flange and an upwardly projecting and outwardly curved leg element, and a facing element in contact with and covering the outer surface of said base member, said facing element also being in overlapping engagement with the terminal end portions of said base member and the projecting shoulder on the ledge element of said cabinet and including a further portion in contact with the web portion adjacent the intersection formed by said inwardly and upwardly directed portions and said inwardly directed flat planar terminal portion, and said base member being in contact with the ledge element on the cabinet at the point of intersection between the bottom and web portions thereof.

3. A trim strip for covering the edge portion of a sink cabinet and the like, said edge portion being comprised of a ledge defined by spaced top and bottom walls offset with respect to one another and an upwardly and inwardly inclined web joining the said walls together, said top Wall also having a projecting shoulder thereon, said strip comprising the combination of a base member provided with an inwardly directed bottom flange and an inwardly and upwardly projecting curved leg element, and a facing element in contact with and covering the outer surface of said base member, said facing element also being in overlapping engagement with the terminal end portions of said base member and the projecting shoulder on the ledge of said cabinet and including a portion in contact with the ledge portion adjacent the intersection formed by said inclined web portion and said top wall portion, said base member being in contact with the ledge element on the cabinet at the point of intersection between the web and bottom wall thereof.

4. A trim device of the character described for use in covering the edge portion of a sink cabinet and the like, said edge portion comprising a ledge defined by spaced top and bottom walls offset with respect to each other, with said top wall being provided with a projecting shoulder element and an inclined web joining the said walls together including the combination of a base member provided with an inwardly directed bottom flange and an upwardly and inwardly directed curved leg element and a facing strip secured to said base member and to the ledge element on the said cabinet, said facing strip comprising a bottom flange in overlapping engagement with the bottom flange of said base member, an intermediate curved portion in contact with the leg element of said base member, and a resilient downwardly curved top flange of double thickness deflected about and in overlapping engagement with the projecting shoulder on said cabinet, said top flange also terminating in a wing portion in contact with the cabinet ledge at the point of intersection between said top Wall and the web thereon, while said base member is in contact with the cabinet ledge at the point of intersection between the bottom wall and the web thereon.

5. A trim device for covering the edge portion of a sink cabinet and the like, said edge portion comprising a ledge defined by spaced top and bottom walls offset with respect to each other, said top wall also being provided with a projecting shoulder portion and an inclined web joining the said walls together, said trim device including the combination of a base member provided with an inwardly directed bottom flange and an upwardly and inwardly directed curved leg element, and a facingstrip secured 'to said base member and to the ledge on the said cabinet, said facing strip comprising a bottom flange in overlapping engagement with the bottom flange of said base member, an intermediate curved portion in surface contact with the leg element of said base member and a resilient downwardly curved top flange of double thickness deflected about and overlappingly engaged with the projecting shoulder portion on said cabinet, said top flange also terminating in a wing portion which is bent about the upper extremity of the leg on the said'base member and is in contact with the cabinet ledge at the point of intersection between the top wall and the web thereon, while said base member is in contact with the cabinet ledge at the point of intersection between the bottom wall and the web thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,855,022 Kellogg Apr. 19, 1932 2,297,887 Hall et a1. Oct. 6, 1942 2,443,959 Merrill June 22, 1948 2,630,580 Schwindt Mar. 10, 1953 2,677,268 Hobbs May 4, 1954 

